“It’s crazy. When you start playing the game of basketball as a big man, they tell you, ‘When you get a rebound, keep your elbows high and out,’ you know, to protect the ball from guards coming in stripping,” Cousins said. “All I did was use my fundamentals and I got punished for it.”

“I’m DeMarcus. I expected the ejection. I knew,” said Cousins, who was assessed a league-high 18 technical fouls last season.

Cousins, meanwhile, said he was aware of how his ejection following contact with Westbrook fit into the Thunder’s own recent history with disputed flagrant fouls.

“It shows that Russ is coachable,” Cousins said. “He listens and they got what they’ve been working on.”